Town celebrates growth of ‘pollinator pathway’
GREENWICH — As National Pollinator Week comes to a close this weekend, Greenwich is celebrating the hard work underway in town to create an environment that is friendly to bees, beetles and butterflies as well as birds and bats.
The Greenwich Pollinator Pathway group raised over $11,000 to build a section of a 1-mile pathway for pollinators, according to Alexsandra Moch, environmental analyst for the town Conservation Commission.
“Work on this area began a couple of years ago with the help of a Parks and Recreation team,” she said. “They were working on freeing the strip along 393 North St. from invasive species to create a space for new plantings.”
At the end of May, new plants were put in the area, with the middle section left for fall. “Dry weather requires intensive watering, so the project’s completion was pushed into fall,” when there are fewer weeds and more rain, which “allows for better plant establishment,” Moch said.
The plants, plug-size when put into the ground, have been growing fast with the first blooms seen this week.
“As soon as the plants arrived, they were immediately discovered by pollinators, which have been visiting the area since then in large numbers,” Moch said.
Future plans for the area include installing signs with plants names and educational information, adding a water source, creating a pile of woody material and an area of bare soil for bee nesting, and arranging rocks “to include all the important elements for a perfect pollinator habitat,” she said.
Organizers hope the Pollinator Pathway will be connected to North Street School and provide an outdoor classroom.
Without pollinators, flowers don’t bloom, plants don’t grow, fruit is not created and the world is in bad shape. Pollinators include insects like bees and butterflies as well birds and even bats.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the designation of “National Pollinator Week” over a decade ago. It ran from June 22 through June 28 this year.
For more information, visit www.pollinator-pathway.org/ greenwich.